THE GENESEE FAEMER. 



8or 



made by dissolving sugar in water till it is of the 

 thickness of honey, and heating it to boiling, and 

 then carefully skimming off all impurities. The 

 synip of the Chinese sugar cane, when it can be 

 got, is admirably adapted for feeding bees. When 

 tile syrup is placed in the trough, a thin perforated 

 lioat of maple, or some hard wood, that will just 

 till the tin and settle down with the food as it is 

 consumed, is to be placed on the top of the syrup, 

 for the bees to alight on, and feed themselves 

 through the interstices, without danger of getting 

 stuck on the syrup. A few small holes are now to 

 be made througli the hive, just above the edge of 

 the trough, to enable the bees to get to their food, 

 aud as a means of attracting them to it a little 

 syrup may be sprinkled on the inside of the hive, 

 close to these holes, and also on the top of the float. 

 The trough is to be covered over with a coarse 

 wire gauze, that will prevent all access to the 

 trough except through the hive, and through which 

 the trough can be replenished from day to day, 

 without removing the trough, or disturbing the 

 bees that may be feeding. Over the whole is to be 

 placed a small box, to keep the light out, and pre- 

 vent rain, cold, &c., from penetrating. Some peo- 

 ple think it too much trouble to heat the syrup, 

 and are contented to give the bees only sugar and 

 water ; but this is done under a mistaken idea, and 

 proves the ruin of bees so fed. The water evapo- 

 rates in a few days, and the sugar becomes crystal- 

 ized in the cells, so that it is of no more use to the 

 bees than so much stone, thus destroying every 

 cell it hardens in for any further use. j. m. 



GLEANINGS BY A YOUNG FAKMER. 



Sucking Cows. — Several years ago, I had a 

 young cow which persevered in sucking herself in 

 spite of all the rigging I could contrive to prevent 

 her, and the only way I succeeded in stopping her 

 was to tie her up in a stall so narrow that the sides 

 of it would touch her sides, and feeding her plenty 

 of corn meal until she was fat enough to butcher, 

 and then butchering her. Last spring, I had another 

 likely three-year-old heifer, that had just come in 

 for the first time, commence the same vicious habit. 

 Remembering my former ill success in preventing 

 mechanically, I determined to appeal to her taite, 

 which I did by smearing the teats night and morn- 

 ing with soft grease, and then dusting them thor- 

 oughly with pulverized cayenne pepper. After 

 continuing the applications about a week, they 

 were discontinued. The cure was perfect, she 

 never having repeated the offence, up to the pres- 

 ent time. 



Kicking Cows. — I have no difiiculty in breaking 

 the most viciovs McJcer, by Rareyizing them, i. e., 

 tying up one fore leg. They will not attempt to 

 kick but once, for in so doing they will throw 

 themselves. 



The Apple-tekh Borer. — This pest of the or- 

 chard is becoming more and more destructive every 

 year. Young orchards, especially upon gravelly 

 ground, left to themselves are almost sure to be 

 ruined in from one to three years. I have been 

 experimenting to prevent them for the last six years, 

 some of the time killing more tree3 than grubs. I 

 have at least ascertained, to my entire satisfaction, 

 that there are several articles not good for trees, be 



they ever so good to kill the grubs. Experience is 

 a dear school, but it is called a good one. Spirit* 

 of turpentine, when applied to apple and peach 

 trees, I Icnow will kill them; also, unleached ashes, 

 when placed in contact with the bark of the apple 

 by being piled around them. The peach appears? 

 to stand the latter. I had observed that trees upon 

 a clay soil were much less infested than when upon 

 a gravelly one. I thought by drawing the earth 

 away from the roots of my trees, which are upon 

 a very loose gravelly soil, and piling around them a 

 small mound of clay worked up into a soft mortar, 

 to place them in as favorable a condition as though 

 they stood upon a clay soil. The result proved me 

 to be mistaken. Instead of being an advantage, I 

 found my trees never contained as many grubs 

 before, many of them having a dozen each. This 

 was caused by the shrinking and cracking of the 

 clay as it dried, forming a small space between it 

 and the bark, into which the insect could crawl and 

 deposit its eggs. The bark, by being kept moist, 

 was very soft aud in excellent condition for them 

 to flourish. I have settled down upon the follow- 

 ing plan, which I am confident will prove success- 

 ful: In the spring, I draw all the earth away from 

 tlie body of the tree quite down to the roots, and 

 dig out with a pen-knife all the grubs I can find, 

 and then apply tlie following mixture with a paint 

 brush, for a foot or eighteen inches above the 

 ground: Plug tobacco, one pound; aloes, four 

 ounces; water, two gallons; steep down to one 

 gallon, and add one gallon of soft soap, and stir 

 well. This should be applied in the spring, again 

 the last of June and first of September, each time 

 looking closely for grubs, which should always be 

 removed with the knife, as this will not, nor will 

 any other wash, eradicate them after they are once 

 hatched. It should be used to prevent the insect 

 from depositing their eggs upon the bark,, and to 

 destroy them when they are deposited, before they 

 are hatched. 



The Bark-louse. — I have succeeded in freeing, a 

 number of young trees that were wonderfully in- 

 fested with the bark-louse, by washing with strong, 

 soap-suds and tobacco-water, applied as warm as 

 the hand could bear, using a woolen rag and rub- 

 bing each branch separately. The warm water 

 softens up the woody scales so that with a little 

 rubbing the bark will be perfectly clear of them. 

 I have often tried weak lye, but found they would 

 stand any number of applications. The rubbing 

 with hot suds is slow but perfectly effectual. 



Cameron MiUa, Steuben Co., JV. Y., Sept. 2, 1859. S. M. 



We shall be happy to receive some more of such 

 "gleanings" from our correspondent. eds^ 



Heaves in Horses. — A correspondent asks for a 

 cure for heaves in horses. I will send you one 

 that a friend of mine gave me some time ago, 

 which he says he has tried to his satisfaction and 

 thinks it a certain cure, and I believe him to be a 

 man of veracity. If you think best, you can pub- 

 lish in the Farmer. One pound of antimony, half 

 a pound of sulphur, half a pound nitre, one-fourth 

 pound rosin; powder fine and mix together. Give 

 a horse half a tablespoonful twice a week, mixed 

 with his food. I can not vouch for the above, not 

 having tried it. — Ueney Cox, Wlieatland, IL T. 



